Gene-Edited Food Is Coming, but Will Shoppers Buy?

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new generation of biotech foods is getting close to the grocery aisles.

By early next year, the first foods made from gene-edited plants and animals are expected to begin selling. First up, probably salad dressings or granola bars made with soybean oil tweaked to be extra heart-healthy.

Researchers also are pursuing wheat with triple the usual fiber, mushrooms that don’t brown, dairy cows that won’t need painful de-horning and pigs immune to a dangerous virus.

It’s a different way of altering DNA than is used to make today’s GMOs. But governments are wrestling with how to regulate gene editing. And the bigger question is whether consumers will accept that difference or see the new products as GMOs in disguise.